Review: Run, don’t walk, away from quirky social satire ‘Stanleyville’

What starts out as a screwball “Squid Game� ultimately yields a paltry payoff in the case of “Stanleyville,� a self-consciously quirky social satire that is content to coast on its waning surface weirdness.

Taking it personally when a bird crashes, unnoticed by others, into her office window, meek Maria (Susanne Wuest, the stern Mutter in cult favorite “Goodnight Mommy�) has abruptly abandoned her equally oblivious family to embark on a fresh start when she’s approached by a stranger (Julian Richings) wearing a cheap nylon backpack and the demeanor of an undertaker.

He informs her that she’s been selected, along with four other random individuals, to partake in a special contest that will reward the winner with “authentic personal transcendence,� not to mention a habanero orange sports utility vehicle.

Among Maria’s competitors are a gym rat (George Tchortov) and an entitled brat (Christian Serritiello) who have names like Bofill Pancreas and Andrew Frisbee Jr. and whose life-affirming challenges include blowing up balloons until they pop and composing inspirational national anthems.

Unfortunately, while actor-turned-director Maxwell McCabe-Lokos obviously had something to say regarding society’s worst impulses, he and co-writer Rob Benvie must have felt all the paper-thin stereotypes and goofy tasks were enough to sustain what amounts to a stagy, protracted acting exercise that grows awfully tedious awfully fast.

By the time Maria and company see fit to start fleeing for an exit, chances are good more than a few hapless viewers will have beaten them to it.